OMV Gas & Power GmbH and RWE Supply & Trading GmbH are to jointly own the Caspian Energy Company Ltd., which has been newly established in London, OMV AG said Monday.
The company has been set up in order to explore comprehensive infrastructure solutions that will link the vast gas resources of the Caspian region to Europe. The joint ownership of CEC by both OMV and RWE is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities. Once approval is granted, OMV and RWE will hold equal shares of CEC.
Further qualified parties will be invited to participate in the company at a later stage. The CEC will in the course of 2009 commence a detailed analysis into gas transport infrastructure options that could provide Europe with access to natural gas from the Eastern side of the Caspian Sea. Based on the study's outcome, the CEC will then enter into the development, construction, ownership and operation of gas transport systems across the Caspian Sea. The respective gas could then be fed into the existing "South Caucasus Gas Pipeline" or other newly built pipelines and from there on into Turkey and the "Nabucco Gas Pipeline", which will form the backbone of this "Southern Gas Corridor".